Manga Monday: Vampire Knight Vol. 16

 Manga Mondays is a meme hosted by Alison at Alison Can Read where bloggers can share their passion for reading mangas. It's a great place to get new manga titles to try and to meet new bloggers. Vampire Knight is one of my favorite manga series. Getting each new volume of the manga is like watching a new episode of your favorite TV show. Hino has hinted that the series will come to a close soon. I have so many theories on how the story will end, some of which I like more than others. I'm excited to see how this popular series ends and whether or not a third season of the anime will be in works.

Description (from the back cover): The Night Class is back in session, but Yuki finds herself quickly becoming second fiddle to Sara Shirabuki. With Kaname gone, Yuki is now desperate for blood, so Zero offers hers his own. Will she break her promise to Kaname and drink from Zero?

Review: Full of action and teasers, Volume 16 of Vampire Knight moves the plot forward but leaves its readers with lots of questions. Kaname is still missing, but we have come to learn that he is on a mission to annihilate all pureblood vampires. The only question we have is: why? Why take this drastic step? What possibly could he achieve by killing other purebloods and what does this mean for Yuki now that she is one? From previous volumes, we have been accustomed to Kaname's strange, ambiguous plans. They are never straightforward as they seem.
  Meanwhile Yuki is having trouble in embracing her leadership role. While she has lost a popular election to Sara Shirabuki as class president, Yuki is appointed by Sara to do the busy work of overlooking the Night Class. Not only is Yuki trying her best to keep the Night Class under control, she is also struggling to make sense of her attraction to Zero. Though they both have claimed to cut ties with one another, it is evident that they both share strong feelings that they refuse to admit. The panels featuring Zero and Yuki alone are my favorite to read as their tension flies off the page.
  As much as I like trying to sort out the very tangled love triangle in this series, the person who stole the spotlight in this volume is Sara Shirabuki. Quiet, creepy, and extremely cunning Sara has managed to take control of both vampires and humans by creating tablets that are made using her blood. When vampires and humans take these "new and expertly" designed tablets, they become addicted to the blood and compelled by Sara to do what she wills. The only way to defeat these tablets is to come another pureblood vampire's blood. Like many other villains in the Vampire Knight series, Sara also has ulterior motives. She has convinced Zero to be on her side by whispering some of "Kaname's secrets." I'm anxiously awaiting the release of Volume 17 to see what Sara told Zero and what will happen if Kaname does return.

Rating: 4 stars

Words of Caution: There is some strong violent scenes in the book. Recommended for teens and up.


If you like this book try: Vampire Knight Volume 17 by Matsuri Hino, Black Bird series by Kanoko Sakurakouji, Millennium Snow series by Bisco Hatori